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It was a good thing that as Cybertronians, they didn't need to breathe.
Otherwise navigating the facility at this point would have killed her.
The air was thick with particles and debris from the explosion of the space bridge, debris getting more concentrated the closer she got to that room. Who knows what damage to a respiratory system could be done by those particles.
She pressed on, doing her best to keep track of just where she was, though it was difficult. No-one was there to help her, either. After the... incident... Starscream - only in command because Megatron was still gone - had gathered up the drones occupying the facility, planning on taking all of them now that the bridge was gone. And, by implication, so was Shockwave. He had been in the bridge portal at the time of the explosion, she had been told. Nobody could survive that. Her loyalties should lie with him now, and she should follow his orders.
She had nothing to say to that.
Instead, she tore her pointed digits across his face, energon flying and seeping from the gouges, a satisfying scream ripping through the chamber. She was tempted to rip off more of his face, but at that point she'd been restrained.
Starscream was an idiot if he thought she'd leave that easily. Let alone take orders from him.
Needless to say, he was more than happy to leave her behind - consider her as dead as the other Decepticon staying behind. He snarled that at her, before he left with his subordinates. She'd watched them return to their ship, watching it turn to leave orbit of the planet.
And now, here she was, finding herself almost lost in the halls she spent so much time in. The wreckage had done an amazing job at disorienting her, destroying most of the markers she used to navigate.
She found herself at a fork in the hall she'd been traveling down. She stopped, unable to tell which led to the bridge room, and which led to... somewhere else. She could feel panic slowly rising in the back of her mind, irrational thoughts starting to come forwards - what if she lost herself in these halls? Never found him? What if he really was dead? What if she overstepped his position by a single wrong turn, and never realized? What if-
She froze, head snapping around to stare down the left hallway - she heard a noise down that way. Not the noise of settling debris. It sounded like... footsteps?
Her spark seized, and without a second to spare she jogged down the hall, straining her hearing receptors for anything else. But it was hard to hear anything over the sound of her own falling footsteps, her ragged venting, and the hammering of her spark in her chest.
She skidded to a halt when she saw something.
A red glow.
Up ahead. Faint, but present.
She broke into a frantic run, eye fixed on the growing red light. She came closer, closer, shapes defining themselves the nearer she came, confirming her most desperate wish-
He was alive.
Shockwave was alive.
She brought herself to a screeching halt just yards away, arms raised, unsure of what to do now. He was standing, yes, but barely - he seemed to be limping, and that must have explained the irregularity of the footsteps she'd heard earlier. I was hard to see through the smoke and dust but he looked like he'd been dragged through a scrapyard. And his eye- oh Primus his eye-
His eye was laced with cracks to the glass surface, pieces missing and the dim red light of the optic flickering, sparking now and then. No wonder she didn't see it sooner down the hall.
He probably couldn't even see her in these conditions. She wondered if he'd even heard her approach. He didn't seem to make any indication, still dragging himself and bracing himself against the wall with his hand, gun-arm raised and shielding his eye.
She dared to speak.
"Shockwave..!"
He started, optic flickering violently as he turned his head in the direction the noise had come from - groaning and bringing his hand to his head as the sparks flew from it. He almost toppled to his knees but somehow he remained standing.
"Astro...?"
Astro took that as a signal. She shot forwards, all but smashing into his side, trying her best to use her small form as a prop for his much-larger body. She could feel herself shaking, panicked thoughts about his well-being now flying across her mind. But she couldn't inspect him here, they needed to make it to the lab. Which, for the most part, was still intact.
"Why... are you here...? There is no reason.."
"I- I couldn't just leave without knowing for sure what happened to you. I had to know-"
She cut herself off.
"We have to get you to the lab. It's still there! I just- we have to get there now-"
Shockwave shook his head as if to clear it of the sparking, but it only seemed to cause more pain, if the hiss he made was any indication.
"Lean on me as much as you can- and follow my lead; I can retrace my steps there."
There was no hesitation on Shockwave's part; he placed his hand on Astro's shoulder - where it had been hanging moments earlier - Astro buckling under the sudden weight increase, rerouting all her strength to staying upright and moving forwards, even if it was at a snail's pace.
It took longer than she cared to remember, but finally, they made it through the remains of the bay doors of the lab. They were both exhausted, for different reasons of course, but they still had to make it to the nearest slab. If they could make it there then she could begin the repairing process.
It took several agonizingly long steps, but they made it - Astro making a motion with one hand for Shockwave to lie on the slab. There was a small crash as he fell onto the table, form going slack the instant he didn't have to support himself anymore.
Astro moved quickly - or as quickly as she could - moving the angle and height of the slab, hooking up life support cables and stopping up still-bleeding energon lines, frantically tapping away at a keyboard hooked to a holoscreen projection nearby.
It was a miracle he was still conscious. She didn't dare look at the spotty trail of energon that had marked their entire journey back to the lab. Though really, it was a miracle he was even still alive.
All she knew was she had to work, now, if she wanted to keep him alive.
She ran around the lab, gathering various tools that weren't present on the table that could prove useful. In a single sweep she shakily deposited everything on top of the already-present tools, moving to organize them just to the point that she didn't have to dig around in the pile.
She let out a shaky sigh, turning and approaching where Shockwave lay. She hesitantly reached out to lay a hand on top of his.
"S-shock-"
She flinched when he reached up and grabbed her wrist - well, "grabbed" was the wrong word. It wasn't a quick movement, or even forceful. It was simply a gentle but firm motion to convey across his next command.
"Do what needs to be done. Talking only prolongs the process."
Astro inhaled deeply, moving to the keyboard and initiating a command to the cables connected to him to initiate stasis. While that took place, she swung the tool stand into arm's reach, pulling over one of the stools she used so she could be high up enough to work. She stood on top of it and positioned an overhead light so she could see.
Climbing back down to sit properly on the stool, Astro looked over the readings on the holoscreen. Stasis had been initiated. Now, she needed to work.
She bowed her head, readying herself. With new determination, she reached for her first tool, bending over Shockwave's damaged body.
It was a long process. Too long. She was tired, but she wouldn't let herself rest until his major injuries were taken care of. Which proved to take longer than she had anticipated. She hadn't even bothered to check on how long she'd been awake for now.
And somehow, even when she was finished with those, she wasn't content to stop. There were so many mars and gashes on Shockwave's plating that she needed to fix. Superficial at best, but she couldn't just leave the shrapnel bits that had only embedded themselves rather than fully penetrated into his body.
Astro had more than a few moments where she found herself jerking back awake, having slipped into stasis while tending to one of these smaller wounds. Fortunately nobody was around to see it.
That's what she thought, at least.
She woke up to find herself lying with her arms folded around her head, on top of Shockwave's torso, in a space between the cables that was just large enough for her to do so.
She raised her head, not fully awake yet.
Shockwave was looking back at her.
She put her head back down, ready to go back to sleep.
Wait.
Shockwave was looking at her.
Astro shot upright, fumbling with the solderer in her hand and blinking her optic furiously, trying to chase away the sleep that had been hanging over her not two seconds prior.
There was a moment of silence as Astro sat, embarrassed, and Shockwave continued looking at her. She didn't dare make eye contact.
"I... didn't mean to fall asleep on you."
He looked down at his body, propping himself up on his left elbow.
"There's very little damage left."
She put the solderer back on the table, reaching for a small hand-light. Despite how he hadn't acknowledged her last statement, she still felt the need to explain herself.
"I've... been working for a long time. It was just a moment's lapse."
"You were asleep for at least ten minutes."
Astro froze, almost dropping the tool she'd just picked up. She bowed her head for a moment, then turned slowly to look at Shockwave.
"... and... you were awake for all that?"
Shockwave simply continued staring at her.
"I apologize. I must've irritated you in doing so."
He looked back down at his front, raising a hand to closer inspect the areas that had been patched up.
"Not particularly."
If Astro could have smiled she would have. But lacking a face makes that difficult.
"Is there a damage report available?"
"Yes."
Astro moved the arm of the stool so that she was a bit closer to the head of the table.
"I need to do some tests to see about your vision."
Shockwave didn't protest. She used the light to do some standard 'follow the light' procedures, then checked for dilation - somewhat difficult with his optic structure but not impossible - brightening and dimming the light, and holding it at different distances.
She pushed away from the table, the arm supporting the stool moving so that she was back at the tool tray.
"Your vision seems to be completely restored."
He reached up and touched his eye with his fingertips, feeling the glass casing around it.
"How did it happen? It looked almost like blaster fire."
"That's precisely what happened."
Astro grimaced internally. She probably would have had a more adverse reaction if she didn't feel the effects of being awake for so long nagging at the corners of her consciousness. She attempted to keep herself busy by sorting the used tools from the stand into a pile.
"...I would still like to see the damage report."
"Oh, right!" Astro looked around, then reached out and grabbed a data pad that was within reach, taking a moment to tap her way to displaying said report on the screen. With a push, she swung back to the table, passing it to Shockwave's reach.
She sat quietly, hands in her lap, trying to remain entirely conscious, as he thumbed through the scan charts and other such entries that she'd made during the process of repairing him.
He looked up at her. Then back at the screen for a moment, as if he was making sure he hadn't missed anything.
"According to this you've been awake and working for the past two solar cycles."
He paused.
"Aside from that last ten minutes."
Astro blinked slowly.
"I haven't been paying too much attention, honestly. I was just... doing what needed to be done."
Shockwave stared at her for a few more seconds, then moved to place the data pad on a nearby surface. As soon as he'd done that, he began removing the cables attached to his front.
Astro jumped up, raising her hands in a slight panic. Shockwave noticed.
"According to the report, and current readings, these are no longer necessary."
She hung in that position for a moment, then slowly lowered her arms. Stasis began tugging at her mind again - to the point that she could feel her head trying to drop.
Shockwave was sitting up now, legs over the side of the table, watching her.
"You need to rest."
Astro rubbed at her optic.
"I probably do, actually."
"Are the berth chambers intact?"
"I... I'm not sure. I didn't really look. At least one of them is."
"You should go."
Astro jumped off the stool and onto the ground, stretching her arms out in front of her in an attempt to wake herself up a bit.
"I assume you're going to stay here, then."
Shockwave simply nodded. Good enough of an answer as any, she thought. With that, she turned and led herself out of the lab, steering herself towards the room where she could sleep. Stasis was sounding like a very nice thing.
Astro was awoken by the sound of the door opening and closing.
Not even bothering to move, she slowly opened her eye - as she was facing the door at the moment, she didn't need to move to see.
The unmistakable silhouette of Shockwave slowly moved towards her. She couldn't tell if it was because he was tired, or if he was deliberately moving like that.
"Shockwave...?"
He came to stop at the edge of the berth, looking down and making a motion for her to get up, extending his hand. Astro huffed, but still she sat up and took his hand, using it to pull herself to her feet.
The instant her form was sitting upright, Shockwave leaned forwards and pulled the tiny bot against his chest, gathering her in his arms because she was far too short to reach normally.
Astro was too tired to properly convey her surprise at the gesture - though she wasn't sure how she'd react differently if she was fully awake. She froze at first, shocked by suddenly finding herself pressed against his chest, but very quickly she eased into the embrace, reaching up and putting her arms around his neck as best as she could.
Shockwave turned and moved to lie down on the berth, once he was sure Astro was steady enough that he could use one arm to aid himself. He didn't lie down all the way - he moved so he was slightly propped up by one of the head supports.
This was one of the things that Astro had been so afraid of losing, if it turned out Shockwave had been dead. The time they spent outside the lab setting. The very idea of that all coming to an end sent a painful throb through her chest. Astro loosed one of her hands from where they were clasped around his neck, trailing it down to rest on his chest. She closed her optic, taking in the warm, steady beat of his spark she could feel just under the chassis plates. Her favorite thing in the world.
She was ready to drift back to sleep, but a digit under her chin tilting her head back brought her attention back. She peered up at the red optic staring down at her, its glow dim. He removed his hand and slowly brought it to her chestplate, lightly tapping on it a few times.
That certainly got her attention. Her ear finials flicked, a little flustered at what he was suggesting.
"...really? Now?"
He continued to stare, his own head finials pinned back.
Honestly, despite how out-of-nowhere it seemed, it made some sense why he was requesting what he was. And... she couldn't exactly bring herself to turn him down; now that it was in her head, she didn't want to pass it up.
"Okay."
Shockwave didn't reply with words. He took her shoulder in his hand and pulled her up so he could clink his optic against hers - as neither of them had proper faces this was the best they could do to mimic a kiss. Astro put her hands on either side of his head and hoisted herself up a little further, resting the top of her head against his optic rim.
Astro could feel herself shudder as the plates on her chassis slid and folded away and let the colder room air in, exposing the electric blue orb. She could see it, too, considering she was currently bowing her head. It was such an odd thing, seeing one's inner workings.
At almost the instant Astro's plates finished their shifting, Shockwave's chest opened up. She couldn't help but stare, her vents temporarily shutting. It didn't matter how many times she'd seen it; she always had the reaction as though it was her first time seeing it. It was stunning to look at, like a contained supernova. To have someone bare their spark to you, that was the ultimate sign of trust.
She didn't protest at all when Shockwave's hand pressed against her back and pulled her in. She slid her arms around his neck again, settling her chest against his and laying the side of her head against his.
The initial contact was a bit like being electrocuted, but very quickly that was replaced by a wave of warmth, immersing the both of them in a pleasant glow that consumed their forms, but at the same time could only be described as gentle. That's all it was. None of the intense, rigorous, physical sensations that could sometimes go along with such an activity.
Astro closed her optic, letting the feeling concentrated in her chest build and take priority over any thoughts that had been on her mind before. She could feel his spark pressed up against hers, both of them seemingly thrumming in time as if there was just one and not two. She felt safe. Their consciousnesses brushed together - it was an inevitable side-effect of the merging - and it was in that way that they communicated back and forth.
Wordless thoughts and feelings passed between the two of them, and he could feel for himself how utterly terrified she was - how furious she'd been when she'd been told to leave; how determined she was to prove them wrong; how desperate she was to make sure she did everything she could to pull him through. How relieved she was when he was awake again, and not just awake but functioning as though there had hardly been any damage. Her embarrassment at him catching her asleep on the job.
At the same time, she could feel the relief he'd felt when he'd been found in the wreckage - how tired he was but how much he struggled not to overexert her as he hobbled along on her support; being impressed - and a little touched - at how much she had managed to repair on her own, and apparently how much he didn't mind when he'd discovered she'd fallen asleep on top of him while doing some minor touch-ups. How content he'd been to just be in her presence, but also noticing she was in need of rest. And how he'd finally pushed himself to find his way to where she was so they could be together.
So they could talk and exchange feelings of appreciation and affection in the clearest way available to them.
Astro sighed contentedly, nestling a bit closer, feeling their connection give slightly at the movement. Sending a slight surge through the feeling of bliss and security already consuming them. Shockwave's hand slid up until it rested on the small knob between her shoulders, oh so gently pressing her closer. Running his fingertips along her shoulder.
And to her, there was nothing in the world - in the universe - better than this.